Substance Addiction Vs Behavioral Addiction

Behavioral addiction is a psychological disorder in which an individual fails to resist an impulse, drive, or temptation to perform an act that can cause harm to the person or others. It is characterized by a repeated pattern of behavior (Grant, 2011). These behaviors may include compulsive buying, pathologic skin picking, sexual addiction (non-paraphilic hyper sexuality), excessive tanning, computer/video game playing, and internet addiction, among many others (Grant, 2011). Feelings of “tension or arousal before committing the act” and “pleasure, gratification or relief at the time of committing the act” tend to precede the behavioral addiction. This stands to provide a short-term reward that prompts the repetition of the behavior regardless of how adverse the consequences may be (Grant, 2011). …show more content…
found several similarities between the two kinds of addictions. For instance, both individuals with substance use disorders and those with behavioral addiction face financial and marital problems. Both groups are also more likely to commit illegal acts in order to compensate the addiction or as a coping mechanism to deal with the consequences of their addictions(Grant, 2011). In addition, individuals suffering from a behavioral addiction may also experience behaviors analogous to tolerance or withdrawal symptoms of substance use disorder. Research shows a reported decreased positive effects with repetition of the behavior and must increase the intensity of the behavior to maintain the same effects (Grant, 2011). These behavioral addicts have also reported the feelings of being in a dysphoric state when they refrain from acting on the behavioral addiction, but unlike